The present invention relates generally to the art of electric motors and other electromechanical machines. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved arrangement for sensing the operating temperature of an electric motor at its stator core.
It is often desirable to continuously monitor the operating temperature of an electric motor to prevent overheating or other undesirable conditions. Toward this end, various sensing arrangements have been embedded inside of the motor to provide an indication of the operating temperature. In one such arrangement, an elongate sensing device is inserted into a respective slot of the stator core. Typically, the elongate sensing device will be situated between respective windings located in the slot.
The sensing device includes an elongate sensing portion having temperature sensitive conductors operative to provide a variable resistance indicative of the operating temperature of the motor. The elongate sensing portion extends to an attachment portion, where lead wires are attached for providing the detected temperature to external equipment. While such arrangements have worked well for their intended purpose, they have given rise to difficulty in manufacturing. The various problems and drawbacks of the prior art will be described in more detail below.